Sunglasses have long been utilized as the major device to protect the eyes during outdoor activities. In addition, sports sunglasses account for a major portion of all sunglasses. It is easy to understand that sports sunwear refers to sunglasses that are used during sports like basketball, football, cycling, biking, softball, baseball and the like. These sports have been popular all over the world for many years and the usage of special sunglasses has also been widely recognized. Sunglasses for sports usage have similar requirements as protective glasses. For instance, the lenses should be shatter-resistant enough. And the frame holding them must be strong and impact resistant. These basic factors must be considered while choosing a pair of sports sunwear, because most of the sports mentioned before involve risky factors. However, there are some other important aspects that are associated with exclusively sports sun glasses.

Like other forms of sunwear, sunglasses for sports usage should be made with adequate UV protection. No one will deny that athletes in outdoor sports will get more sunlight exposure than the average people. It has been wide recognized that lifelong overexposure to UV rays in sunlight is closely linked to the development of cataracts after entering a certain age. In this case, sports sunglasses are required fundamentally to offer 100% UV protection, which is determined by the lens material, coatings or additives applied to the lenses. Since polycarbonate can block naturally 100% harmful UV ray, it is currently the commonest material used to make sports sunwear lenses. This does not say the popular existence of lens tints is unreasonable and a waste of money. Certain lens tints like green, yellow, orange, rose and gray can provide advantages for specific sports involving particular lighting conditions.

For additional benefits or enhanced performance, sports sunglasses can take use of some other technologies. Photochromic lenses can automatically lighten and darken according to the current lighting conditions. Polarized filter incorporated in sunglass lenses can filter out light reflected from horizontal surfaces. Anti-reflective coating applied to sports lenses can eliminate glare when the sun is behind. Another beneficial coating is mirror coating, which offers additional light reduction.

Related pages – UV sunglasses, photochromic sunglasses, Polarized Bifocal Sunglasses

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